


let's stop running from love

by redmaynes



Category: Buzzfeed: Worth It (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-28
Updated: 2018-01-28
Packaged: 2019-03-10 00:14:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13492785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redmaynes/pseuds/redmaynes
Summary: It was common for people to try to search up the tattooed last names on their wrists on the internet, to at least get an inkling of the person that could be their soulmate, but it wasn’t that easy to sift through the millions of people who have the same surname.Steven didn’t have any luck with his searches of his tattoo either. And what kind of last name was Ilnyckyj?





	let's stop running from love

**Author's Note:**

> i mean..... surely i'm not the only one who's thought of steven struggling to understand what the hell an ilnyckyj is
> 
> warning for mentions of self-harm scars. it's not graphic, but just a heads-up 
> 
> as always, enjoy

_It was like background scenery_ , Steven mused to himself. Black ink scrawled on his skin, something he was aware of, but over 8 years, had gotten used to seeing every single day.

The tattoo manifested whilst he was in senior year, in AP Chemistry, doing his titration lab. It caught him by surprise, a warm sensation that suddenly spread along his right wrist, and he jerked his left hand back in surprise. In the process, his fingers jarred the tap, and his NaOH solution poured out of the buret, streaming into his phenolphthalein and KHP solution, turning it a brilliant vivid fuchsia color. 

Steven yelped, and twisted the tap back, seconds too late as he looked at the beaker in dismay. He had to start over again. He resignedly smiled at the classmates who looked over at him in curiosity, wondering why Steven Lim, the Gifted Chem Kid himself, was screwing up a procedure that was considered practically elementary in the class.

He almost yelped again when he inspected his wrist. 

“What the heck…?” His eyes widened when he laid eyes on it. 

He finally received his soulmate’s last name. 

“Inn— In-neh-kej?” Steven’s eyebrows furrowed. _How do I pronounce this?_

His heart pounded in his chest, rapidly beating its own tattoo into his skin. A second thought entered his mind: _I have a soulmate._

_Oh God oh God oh God oh God someone’s out there and they’re my soulmate holy crap I have someone waiting for me somewhere I can’t believe it—_

The last thought that Steven had before he hit the floor was: _how am I going to be their soulmate if I can’t even pronounce their name?_

-∆-

“There, you gotta ice it for a while, in about five-minute intervals, or else you’re going to freeze your face,” the school nurse explained, as she gently held the ice pack to his cheek, which was what the lab table hit when he fainted and caused a commotion in class. He didn’t mean to, but the manifestation came as a shock to him, and caught him by surprise. _Dammit, I haven’t finished my lab yet, redoing it is gonna be a hassle._

“Thanks, Paola,” he said, gratefully clutching the pack to his face so she could free her hands to write up a report.

“You’re lucky you didn’t hit your head with any more impact; that could’ve resulted in a concussion.”

He grinned ruefully, and took the write-up and pass she handed him, and shouldered his backpack, all the while still icing his face.

“Get to class. I’ll catch you later.” She paused. “Actually no, I don’t want to see you in this office again. Don’t get hurt for the rest of the year, y’hear me?”

He chuckled. “I’ll try. Thank you again.”

She waved him off good-naturedly, and he headed to his next class, AP Economics.

When he slid into his seat, his table partner, Thuy, nudged him in the side. She was in AP Chem when he suddenly took a fall. “You good?”

He nodded at her. “Yeah. I’ll be fine.”

She nodded back, satisfied that Steven was okay, and twisted back to face the front, ready to take notes for the day.

Class started a few minutes later, but even when his teacher turned off the lights to present the online slides about the Keynesian model, he couldn’t help but peek at the dark tattoo that stood out in stark contrast against his skin, and also couldn’t help the small, incredulous smile that lit up his face.

_Maybe there is hope after all_.

-∆-

It was common for people to try to search up the tattooed last names on their wrists on the internet, to at least get an inkling of the person that could be their soulmate, but it wasn’t that easy to sift through the millions of people who have the same surname.

Steven didn’t have any luck with his online searches with his tattoo either. And what kind of last name was _Ilnyckyj_?

Some people popped up, but search results turned up blank. Dead ends. Either his soul mate was completely off the grid and lived in a cabin up in the Himalayans or never bothered to put up any kind of social media presence.

Steven sighed, and resignedly looked down at his right wrist, eyes glossing over the slightly faded scars crisscrossing the inside of his forearm. 

Background scenery. Both his scars and the tattoo. One of the two held his past, the other a future he wasn’t too sure he would ever receive.

Eight years ago he received the tattoo. For eight years he kept it hidden, always careful to cover it up with a bandage, even when he was wearing long sleeves. It was always slightly ironic to himself how careful he was to hide the tattoo, the only connection he had to another person on his body when he didn’t bother to hide those faded scars on the inside of his arms.

_It’s like a secret_ , he thought. _I can’t share it with just anyone._

He turned his attention back to where he was writing a journal entry for the day. The most he’d written down was the last name, over and over again.

Ilnyckyj. 

A jumble of consonants, practically unpronounceable to Steven, but it held a type of messy charm that amused him.

He absentmindedly brushed his thumb over the tattoo, a habit he’d developed to calm himself down, to bring comfort. 

But it’s been eight years, and Steven wasn’t even sure if he’ll ever meet the person he was supposedly destined for. Receiving it when he was 17 was probably one of the best things that’d ever happen to him. It gave him hope that there was someone that he could love, someone who could love him back. 

It was as if all the nightly praying that he did paid off, and God gave him a sign, but he still wasn’t able to meet anyone who matched his tattoo.

It also seemed like God wasn’t present whenever Steven tried to talk to Him about the issue, since senior year. It frustrated him to no end that he’d been waiting so long for something to happen, but not a single sign pointed in his favor.

He slid his sleeve over his wrist again, covering the tattoo. 

“Good things come to those who wait,” he murmured to himself, and deliberately closed his journal, carefully setting his pen on top of the worn leather cover.

He wasn’t going to give up. Not now.

Because unpronounceable or not, he was going to get to the bottom of this whole last name business. Someday.

**Author's Note:**

> tbc after i get my shit together


End file.
